AS a member of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, I find it difficult to digest that in its latest Journal “Your Trust”, it is tying to deal with the forthcoming winter under-capacity at the University Hospital of North Durham.

The trust says that the 120,000 accident and emergency (A&E) patients that it treats each year is over the department’s capacity.

I find this hard to understand.

Why close the A&E at Bishop Auckland in that case? A decision that was criticised by me and many other local people at the time.

I attended the University Hospital of North Durham two years ago, when the paths were icebound, and the A&E services were finding it difficult to cope.

I would ask the NHS Trust to evaluate the South West Durham areas again and, if unable to re-open the Bishop Auckland unit, then a sensible alternative A&E unit is considered.

Ben Ord, Spennymoor.